Can you use the patch in the first post to patch the retail version of the game? I bought this before I'd discovered GOG and would rather not spend another $10.

I don't see why not (unless gog staff did something to it that made it compatible only with gog's version(the version available elsewhere is 1.03.23)). You'll lose nothinh by trying it. At worst case if something goes wrong you may need to reinstall the game.
There's one odd thing about gog's version. The 1.03.23 version needs 1.03.2 patch to be installed first and it's 12 megs in size so it can't possibly have been integrated into gog's patch (1.55 MB).

Ok, thanks. I'll give it a shot. Very helpful posts. I didn't even know the extent of the problems the game had (I run vista 64) until you very kindly posted the change log.

Actually, very few of the changes after 1.03 are for bugs or problems in the traditional sense.
1.03 was the last official patch Enlight and Infinite Interactive released; the 1.03.xx series of patches are balance tweaks that a few enthusiastic players made. Not everyone agrees with those balance changes (though if you ask the creators of those patches, they will arrogantly describe the changes as a consensus of all the world's best players). They are mostly flavor and balance changes to suit them whims of the loudest members of the WBC3 forums.
I think some are improve the balance while others are detrimental, and some are just excuses to make the changelog bigger. Everyone I play with uses the last Infinite Interactive patch (1.03), and therefore, unfortunately, we can't include people using the current gog.com download.

I keep checking everywhere but the max version to download is 1.03.23...
I legally own the game from way back, and I dont really like it enough to repurchase it here again like I did Ghost Master... just wondering if anyone has a standalone version of the 1.03.24 patch, or if that is GOG only, because the highest I can go is 1.03.23... and that one still has invisable units

I bought the GOG version after losing my disks but I have to say I don't like the Unofficial patch changes. mostly because it breaks all my old characters for some reason. Anyway I found my old retail version again and I managed to fix the invisible units problem by setting the compatibility of the exe file to XP (Service Pack 3). I'm not sure about the random generated rings but all my spells work fine.
I'm on a Windows 7 computer.

The bugs mentioned in 12th post (where I posted the changelog) should only affect versions available from DD services. If you have retail version, you should be fine.

Before this "mod" game was absolutely broken. The infamous "Ring of greed" bug plagued all DD versions of WBC3.
Impulse sells the modded WBC3 as well now. Steam... Simply doesn't care.

Hmm. The link in the original post is dead, and I can't find any information on patch 1.03.24 through google. Where did it even come from?
Edit: Ah, never mind. I mailed GOG about it; turns out the patch is 1.03.23, and the .24 is their own modification so it runs on newer computers (like the patch notes Petrell posted say).

I just downloaded the game, but when i tried to install it, it said that my OS was not supported. I am running windows 7, does anyone know if there is a patch that will allow me to play?

I have version 1.00 - I like it. I have 2 questions
1) When I tried to install the patch - it said that Warlords was not installed.
2) When I create an IRONMAN hero, the hero is not saved. As soon as I quit the game - it forgets the hero. I do see it makes a journal entry and other files but for some reason I can't select the hero when I start the game. But if I create normal hero I can. I really want to try IRONMAN but I can't play continuously. I need to turn off computer.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

You probably need the official 1.03 patch (unofficial patches usually need the latest official version as base, however some have integrated official patches to unofficial ones) and perhaps the unofficial 1.03.2 patch as well. Can be found by google or by searching places like The Patches Scrolls.

can anyone post lastest pacth link here i cannot find the latest one

me too, please update the dead link. PLEASE